National Latino museum closer to reality

April 30, 2008|By James Hohmann Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — American Indians got one in 2004. African Americans are set to get a new one within a decade. Yet Latinos, the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority, have no museum of their own in the nation's capital to honor their culture and history.

But the National Museum of the American Latino came one step closer to reality Tuesday when the House, by a vote of 291-117, approved legislation that includes creation of a commission to study the feasibility of building one.

There's no timeline for construction. Nor has the museum's location or the scope of its collection been determined. Still, a host of groups hailed the vote as a major hurdle that has been bounded.

"Latinos were a part of American history before the landing at Plymouth Rock," said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. "This is going to be a long process, but Latinos aren't going anywhere and we're going to see this through."

The measure is included inside a larger bill on natural resources that passed the Senate, 91-4, earlier this month.

It authorizes the creation of a bipartisan 23-member commission that will spend $3.2 million over two years to come up with recommendations and sponsor a conference where interested individuals or groups can submit ideas and develop a fundraising plan.

The driving force behind the proposal is Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., whose first effort on the issue was introduced five years ago.

"Like any good idea in Washington, it takes a few years to percolate to the top," he said. "It's a good idea whose time has come."

The push for the new museum comes in the midst of a continuing debate about the future of the National Mall, the iconic two-mile stretch from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

The National Coalition to Save Our Mall welcomed the Latino museum commission as long as it takes the time for careful analysis with public comment. The construction should be part of a rethinking about the grand plan of the Mall, said Judy Scott Feldman, the coalition's president.